Of the massive amount of crude oil stolen in Nigeria, about 75 per cent is exported out of the country, the Revenue Watch Institute has said.
The RWI is an international non-profit organisation that promotes transparency and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources for the public.
According to the institute, the fraction of stolen crude oil refined locally cannot be compared to the quantum of the commodity exported out of the country.
The Nigeria Programme Coordinator, RWI, Mr. Dauda Garuba, stated that the massive and successful disappearance of crude oil from the country was because some top government officials and those in the political class were involved in the crime.
Garuba spoke on the sidelines of a roundtable on remediation issues in the oil and gas industry organised by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Abuja on Monday.
He said, “I have been to the Niger Delta and also visited all the creeks there. I have spoken to people across the line; the security agencies, oil marketers, crude oil marketers and many other stakeholders in the sector.
“But continuously, I have also told many people that we are probably running after not more than 25 per cent of what is locally refined in the bush at the expense of the quantum that is actually leaving the country. That is the reality in Nigeria. If you want to really follow the issue of oil theft, let us be holistic and comprehensive enough to take up the issues.”
Nigeria reportedly lost N235.36bn in February alone due to shortfalls in crude oil production caused by incessant theft and in the export of the commodity.
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